Abstract: Quantum Entanglement is the essence of quantum physics and inspires
fundamental questions about the principles of nature. Moreover it is also the
basis for emerging technologies of quantum information processing such as
quantum cryptography, quantum teleportation and quantum computation. Bell's
discovery, that correlations measured on entangled quantum systems are at
variance with a local realistic picture led to a flurry of experiments
confirming the quantum predictions. However, it is still experimentally
undecided whether quantum entanglement can survive global distances, as
predicted by quantum theory. Here we report the violation of the
Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) inequality measured by two observers
separated by 144 km between the Canary Islands of La Palma and Tenerife via an
optical free-space link using the Optical Ground Station (OGS) of the European
Space Agency (ESA). Furthermore we used the entangled pairs to generate a
quantum cryptographic key under experimental conditions and constraints
characteristic for a Space-to-ground experiment. The distance in our experiment
exceeds all previous free-space experiments by more than one order of magnitude
and exploits the limit for ground-based free-space communication; significantly
longer distances can only be reached using air- or space-based platforms. The
range achieved thereby demonstrates the feasibility of quantum communication in
space, involving satellites or the International Space Station (ISS).